Have I Reach an Animation Limit?

[pstrany]

Hi all;

this is a CFS2-specific question. I am working on a model that has a very complex canopy animation (I have about 20 pieces all labeled f_canopy_xxx that move in unison....) I got this mess to move more or less the way I want to, but then I went and copied my prop disks (_slow and _blurred) and pasted them so they'd be the last parts, and low and behold, those parts (and anything else I add thereafter) has this weird tendency to meander around the model. I've got a prop disk that shows up off the starboard quarter, but will eventually work its way around front, then there it goes again on another slow (very slow) voyage of exploration around the model. I've double-checked the parts, they aren't linked to anything else (and worked just fine before I did the delete-and-paste thing.....)

Yikes! Have I reached or exceeded some kind of a part limit? Anyone else ever have this problem? Oh yes, I'm using FSDS version 2......

Paul

 

[Bill Kestell]

Paul, your frightening me! I can't even get past the instructions for FSDS to make a rectangle and a couple of tubes ... and you now have developed "self-animating" parts! HOLY CRAP, BATMAN!!!!!

You need to STOP RIGHT NOW ... you are getting very close to the edge of our flat earth.

 

[Collin]

Paul, have you an axis part for the prop to spin around?

regards Collin:ernae:

 

[pstrany]

Let's see. The prop is not linked to any other part, the axis is the prop shaft, and it was working just fine before I cut-and-pasted it. As best I can tell, the animation engine is just "dizzy" from the rather complicated canopy animation (the last thing I did to the model before the prop cut-n-paste.)

And naw, this is nothing fancy, it is just 20 parts (tubes) that are linked together and change from a straight line to a curved line, sort of like taking a straight piece of rope and then making it coil. I seem to recall seeing the edge of that flat earth a while ago, but from where I am, I've well and truly lost track of it now.....

I'm thinking I've just found that there is a limit to the number of parts that can be animated under a single tag, and that is that (nothing to be done but cut out all the offending parts.) Pity though, I rather liked the effect. I've included a few screenshots of the animation - the late-model Fw190D didn't have a way of tensioning the radio antenna when the canopy was opened, so it just sort of laid down on the spine of the aircraft:

http://www.virtualwings.org/dora1.jpg
http://www.virtualwings.org/dora2.jpg
http://www.virtualwings.org/dora3.jpg

And, of course, the meandering prop disk:

http://www.virtualwings.org/dora4.jpg

I'll just have to cheat a bit, I guess. By the by, this is just a rework of an old model, just updating it to FSDS 2 standards. I was recently hospitalized with kidney stones, and I'm going through the process now of having them dealt with, so I just wanted something to occupy my mind without requiring a great deal of thought. It's not as bad as it sounds, I actually consider myself quite lucky, if I had to have a problem, this one is fairly easy to fix and doesn't require major surgery....

Paul

 

[Jagdflieger]

Amazing animation Paul. Too bad about the prop, but it sounds like the old girl might be getting a face lift. She's been a real work horse in my ETO installations over the years.

 

[Wulf190]

Hey Paul, glad to hear your OK, and its nice to see that your still tinkering with your Doras. I'm looking forward to the update version! Thanks!

 

[Collin]

OK...The prop-shaft is the axis part for the prop to revolve around. Now check its CofG, you might find that it is out by quite a bit.

Another suggestion....provided you have seperate copies of the animation.

Make sure of the CoG on the copies.
Delete the animations in the main model.
Copy and paste the prop animation into the main model.
Copy and paste the canopy animation onto the main model.

This way you can see if one effects the other.

I had a similar problem when animating the radar on the Essex class carriers, found that one axis CoG had been left stretched, the animation spins around the part CoG axis so the radar travelled in a circle of about 300ft radius.

Anyway, goodluck and leave the nurses alone...well don't get caught.

regards Collin:ernae:

 

[OBIO]

Maybe there's nothing wrong with the animation...maybe you have just uncovered the biggest secret of German air technology....they had developed variable thrust technology decades before anyone else. Must have gotten some advanced education from the aliens they communicated with.

Paul, on a serious note, I do greatly appreciate every aircraft you have brought into the sim world and your efforts to add a level of realistic behavior that no others have attempted. Simply genious!

And with the Dora updated to FSDS2 standards, I do believe that that would make the plane usable in FS2004...and I know that there are a good number of Civil Simmers who will be delighted that this update is being done!

OBIO

 

[Shessi]

Hi Paul,
OOOOooooohhh......kidney stones, as you say as things go not that bad it's just when they start coming out it gets a little painful. Good luck with them, so to speak!

Sorry I can't help with anything constructive, BUT maybe the Me262B1aU1 might be easier....???

Cheers

Shessi